Vintage cars motor through the area as part of a tour

05/31/2016 11:20AM
● By Steven Hoffman

Cars [16 Images]
Click Any Image To Expand

It was a truly amazing sight.

One vintage antique car after another
pulled into the parking lot of Basciani Foods on Penn Green Road on
Monday, May 23. The cars were spiffed up and shining under the
mid-May sun, and their owners—members of the Horseless Carriage
Club of America—were beaming after an enjoyable ride through the
gorgeous Chester County countryside.

“These
are beautiful roads and the scenery is gorgeous,” commented Gil
Fitzhugh, a Morristown, New Jersey resident who drove his 1912
Buick—he owns the smallest of the three sizes that were
manufactured that year—to the location. When everyone arrived at
Baciani Foods to get a look at a mushroom facility in the heart of
the Mushroom Capital of the World, there were 170 people in 80
vintage cars.

Helen Turner was riding with her
husband, Lee, in a 1910 REO that they've owned for the last ten
years. The car was manufactured by Ransom Eli Olds, a pioneer of the
automotive industry who is known for the REO and Oldsmobile brands.
She said that the vintage car owners were traveling as part of the
HCCA National BBC Tour.

“It's an annual event,” Turner
said, explaining that the tour started with a visit to the Railroad
Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pa., a day earlier. The vintage
car owners began Monday with a visit to Basciani Foods before moving
on to the Iron and Steel Museum in Coatesville before heading back to
Strasburg. Visits to the Hershey, Pa., northern Delaware, and York,
Pa. areas were also a part of the four-day long tour.

The Turners, who reside in Glen Mills,
were very familiar with the Chester County roads and this area. The
vintage car owners came from all over the country to be a part of
this tour. There was even one car owner from Canada, and another from
Great Britain.

“I made one wrong turn in Ohio and I
ended up here,” joked Wayne Funk, a Michigan resident.

The tour stopped at Basciani Foods
because of a connection that Turner made with the business at the
Mushroom Festival over a decade ago.

“I couldn't bring all these people
here and not go to a mushroom place,” Turner said, referring to
Kennett Square's status as the Mushroom Capital of the World. She
said that Basciani Foods was extremely accommodating during the
visit.

Turner said that she and her husband
really enjoy not only this tour, but being a part of the Horseless
Carriage Club of America.

“We really enjoy the camaraderie and
riding on these beautiful back roads,” she said.

The Horseless Carriage Club of America
defines “horseless carriage” as any gas, steam, or electric motor
vehicle built or manufactured prior to Jan. 1, 1916. The goal of the
Horseless Carriage Club is to preserve the originality of the
automobiles, or to restore the automobiles to their original
condition, so that they can be used for driving and completing tours
to promote the preservation of their historical value.

The cars attract attention wherever
they go, and the car owners love to talk about them.

Fitzhugh has owned his 1912 Buick for
about 15 years, and most of the restoration work has taken place in
the last three. He explained that while he loves taking the car out
for a fun drive, it can be challenging, too. There are no power
assists for a car that was manufactured more than one hundred years
ago. The cars are started by a hand-crank, the steering is stiff, and
there are only rear-wheel brakes. It takes some effort, but the
experience of driving a vintage car is well worth it. Each car has
its own unique way of handling, Fitzhugh said.